a Druid in One Piece
by Hungry Luma
Summary: i look up from my book and suddenly I'm on a beach. Wait...I'm in One Piece?...great now i have to make sure to avoid everyone until I'm sure they aren't important, so i don't ruin the plot. Well at least I'm not in Naruto, they have ninjas licenced to kill there, as law enforcement even, at least the marines aren't allowed to kill civilians, at least i don't think so. SI/OC
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece and I would never want to, because I think Oda Eiichiro is doing an awesome job at the moment and I don't want to ruin it.**

_humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return, that is the first rule to alchemy. Although this story has nothing to do with alchemy, this rule also applies to life as a basic rule. When you want something, you must pay for it(not necessarily with money) with something of equal value._

_If this rule can apply to my life than does this mean that the power that brought me here has paid for his actions as much as it has cost me? Or has he just given me this book and it's power as payment? well if he has just given me this book I don't think it's value is equal to my torment.__ No spell no matter how cool looking or useful it is, is worth giving up a life, living with your family._

_There is another way of taking this I suppose, I could be paying for something that I have taken already and I am paying for it now, but how could I have taken something this costly without being able to recall the deal taking place?or maybe this is just my, personal payment for the ability to exist. If that is so does everyone have to relive a life in hell __and do we all just get books of magic randomly?_

_Well t__his __hell__ has no need for me as far as __I__'m __concerned__ I would rather be a home watching this anime than living __it as a character (I should __probably __call them __people__ now) in the show, my character (thank god) not as an already made character but me, Rei Blackthorn. _

_Anyway in no way am i gonna mess with the plot. I'm not even gonna see what time period or arc I'm up to, so i don't get tempted. i don't belong here and i can't get too comfortable. i need to find a way home, fast, i don't want to dawdle and end up dying here. i have to avoid so many people in order not to die or interrupt the story. the eleven supernovas and their crew, any marine above lieutenant,all four yonko, all seven Shichibukai, and any important or unimportant character must be avoided lest i get myself into some trouble that will eventually lead to my death. with that all settled I'm gonna find a way home...or maybe just get a job on this island i landed in, yah that sounds good.  
_

* * *

**AN:This is a self/OC insert. This oc is going to be a druid ,like in DnD, you don't need any previous knowledge on druids in DnD to read this story as i will be explaining every thing from spells in this story to what a real druid would be like. Since this is the prologue i will just tell you that a druid is like a wizard (but with a very limited amount of spells compared to Harry Potter) that uses nature as the source of their power(They love nature). I'm not sure if this oc is going to be a tree huger, someone who appreciates nature or someone whose motto is 'survival of the fittest'. i also don't know if i should make the oc vegetarian/vegan or omnivore. This is my first ever time making my own full length story (or at least attempting to), it's really exciting! I hope I do well and that you all like how it turns out, wherever this ends up going(not that i know where it will go, this was a spree of the moment story). **


	2. Chapter 1

When I read really exciting part in a book I tend to get giddy. When getting like this I almost always go through the following procedure. First I will place my thumb on the bottom of the book where the two pages meet. Next, I will slam the book shut! (Usually hurting my thumb In the process) I will take a deep breath (don't hyperventilate now) and proceed with the widest smile that can fit my face. After that, and depending on my excitement, I will open back up my book (luckily I remember to use my thumb as a book mark*see step 1 of procedure*) Sometimes if the place I'm at is exciting enough I will end up doing a full repeat of the previous actions. There are parts however, that are so exciting for me that I have to get up from my seat and walk in the largest circle I can (usually not that large because of the furniture in my room). When this happens I am usually trying to contain my squeals, yes I squeal although I do try to avoid it, as most people including me find squeals incredibly annoying. I end up looking like an idiot or a mentally deranged person with my hand covering my mouth and my book tucked under my arm with my other hands thumb still stuck in the book marking my spot.

When I finish a book I have an entirely different mentality, instead of wanting to put the book down, to release my overwhelming emotions, I get sucked into the book and usually I stay in the book even after I finish it. Being in the book's world can last days, even weeks and since I already finished the book I end up reading fan-fiction until I get sucked into something else.

This story stats with me reading the last page of a book, and a really good book at that, making me want to ignore my surroundings and just read. Unfortunately I can't as I'm riding the bus and I think it just announced my stop.

"Next stop..." announced the bus. As I started to read the last paragraph...of the last page...of the last chapter...of this awesome book. "_I have to get off now" _I thought as I sat in my seat on the bus unwilling to get up until I finish the book. "_I have to get off the bus now"_...as reluctant as I am to get up, I can't miss my stop as the next one will have me walking up a bigger hill than the one I already have to walk up and I want to get home already! "_But I don't want to put my book down...I'm almost done with it." _my solution to this problem ended in me getting up from my seat, my nose still in my book mind you, walking down the isle on the bus while being careful not to bump into anything, "_thank god for multitasking!" _said the little part of my brain that was focusing on walking and reminding me to get off the bus, that would be the only part not reading right now.

I heard the bus's doors open and I hoped off onto the side walk after everyone else. I didn't hear the bus's doors close, nor the driver speeding away down the hill, I just stood there reading as a breeze blew into my face throwing back my bangs out of my eyes "_I thought my stop dropped us off in front of a brick wall? Why is there a breeze in my face if I'm standing in front of it?..."_ thought the part of me that told me to get off the bus as even she slowly stated to fall into the book.

"huh" I sigh as I stare at the last sentence, that I had just finished, of my book. _"I don't want you to end" _I thought as I shut the book and stared at the cover. It was a really cool looking cover; it had an old, rusty, sort of steam punk kind of look to it, you know with all the bronze gears and brown leather. That was probably why I picked it up in the first place, because it looked cool. It even had a tarnished bronze sword shaped clasp attached to an open book of the same metal, in the middle of the book th sword and half of the book were on a leather flap. in the center of the sword was a lock, making the book seem like some type of really secure steam punk diary(that's actually what i thought it was at first). I liked how it looked it reminded me of an old spell book in a fantasy story. Funny thing is, I didn't think this was the type of book my mom would buy, but it was on her shelf and she didn't remember getting it so she let me have it. That was a really lucky break for me as I was running out of books to read.

"_I liked the story too it was about a girl who…um…it was about a girl…or a boy?...no it was about an organization! that… um…i…can't remember..But I just finished it! How can I not remember any of it!?" _in my shock I started to fumble with the lock in the clasp, which I had closed when I was looking at the cover, trying to open the book while my mind tried to remember what the story was about and started to panic.

When I'm scared and panicky I don't scream or cry, I simply shake, I shake and I'm quiet. In my head however, I ramble, it's a quick and quiet ramble where I try to solve the problem, and I pray in a very sophisticated manner _"Please please please please please oh please oh please oh please…"_. I finally unlocked and opened the book and… "What?"I whispered as I peered inside it. In cases where I can't solve a problem that is scaring me, I turn one of my siblings to calm me down, my sister being the only one who can fully succeed at this is the one I turn to most. I quckly threw my backpack off of one of my shoulders twisting it around to face me while it was still on my back I unzipped its smallest pocket, struggling with its warped zipper, and grabbed my phone. I quickly dialed Siri's number . "come on, pick up, pick up, pick up…" I rambled as I looked at the …sand ground?

I looked up staring at the bright blue sky "But… it's night time…" I whispered in shock. I was standing on a beach, in the bright sunlight, that I had somehow not noticed in my dream like state after finishing that _stupid _book! Which also happened to be written in some sort of foreign language! No not English gibberish but actual foreign scribbles. "What… in the world… is going on?" I not so calmly said to no one at all. Then I suddenly remember something "_Well, this explains the breeze_." I thought as I looked from the sky to the sea to my book in wonder.


	3. Chapter 2

Have you ever stepped off of your bus at the wrong stop or made a wrong turn some where when you're driving? Suddenly you turn your head around and then you realize you don't know how you got there. You stare at the road and you think "_i have no memory of this place." _Then you pull out your cellphone/GPS/map and you find where you are "_well that was a nice adventure."_is my usual thought after going through something like this. "Getting lost is fun, you go on a little adventure, and you end up finding all these short cuts. Why, one time I got separated from Siri(my sister) and we both ..." I used to say when anyone would tell me their 'horror' stories about them getting lost. I truly believed that getting lost was fun, an adventure, something to laugh about afterwards, an extra story to tell people. That was my belief, still is my belief.

I don't consider myself lost right now, right now I am...Okay fine I'm lost. This is a different lost than usual though because I took the right turns and although I wasn't looking at where I was going the bus driver and all the other people who had gotten off on my stop had been paying attention. Now that I mention it where were all of those other people? Whatever the point is that I need to find out where I am, that is my first priority. I also need to find a place to stay for the night, I don't want to sleep on the beach and since the night had just turned to mourning suddenly, I'm guessing that I'm in a different time zone, therefore nowhere near home.

I looked around the beach noticing a forest "is that a forest or a jungle?"i thought trying to keep my mind off of my worries. the coast seemed pretty long but I could sort of make out a doc in the distance "it could be a big rock for all I know." as I walked along the coast, staying away from the forest (jungle) as I didn't want to get any more lost than I already am (and eventually die in a forest (I really can't tell if it's a jungle or not)). "even if it is a rock, if I just keep to the coast hopefully there will be a dock at some point." was what I thought as I strolled along the beach.

* * *

"TEENAGERS SCARE THE LIVIN' SH.. OUT OF ME! THEY COULD CARE LESS AS LONG AS SOME OF THEM BLEED!...SING AWAY YOUR WORRIES REI! THERE IS NOTHING TOO FEAR!" i shouted to the empty beach as i cried anime tears "the only thing to fear is my own imagination..." i whispered as a blood thirsty lion, with a wild mane and scary looking teeth came walking out slowly from between two large pom trees. it's red eyes resting on the only tasty looking morsel in sight, or should i say only thing in sight. i stood there frozen, looking up at it in fear and awe as it walked towards me. towering above me it slowly stood up onto its behind legs and...  
did the can-can.

"i have a very mean and stupid imagination." i said to the empty beach as i continued on my way

* * *

"_Walking through town as most people would say, helps you relax. On these _helpful_ words of wisdom I would simply like to say_ ..._.YOU SUCK!" _I thought calmly as I struggled to get passed a group of children playing in the street. "_do they want to die from being trampled on?!" _I silently cried in my head.

As luck would have it, walking along the coast was a good decision, the dock I had seen _was_ a rock but it was larger than I had originally thought and it blocked the real dock from my view completely.

Now for my first priority "how do I best find out where I am without looking like a retard for not even knowing the country?" I whispered under my breath(i knew it was a different country because of the different time zone).

While I looked for a tourist shop, I noticed how small the town was which started to worry me _"does a town this small even have a tourist shop? It could just be a fishing town and there isn't a shop, then I have just been wasting my time, looking for a non existing place." _I thought as I slowly gave in to a nagging voice telling me to 'risk looking stupid for our own survival!'

I looked around, but I had gone deep enough into the town that the only people around were busy women shopping at the market, and they looked so busy that they might not even bother to answer my questions, and those kids i had just passed, who also looked really busy at playing their makeshift soccer game.

Then I saw it, a run down old building that looked a little like an old western styled bar, with a rusty sign over head saying 'BAR'. "perfect" I breathed out in relief. No one would be in a bar at this time of day except the owner (maybe a couple of strays as well, because its open) and any place with a bar like this must be a tourist town.

I entered the building, the swinging doors squeaked behind me as I made my way to the bar. Sitting at one of the stools at the bar I looked around noticing tables full of men playing cards and or laughing and drinking, and thought _"turns out there were a lot more people than I had expected in here". _

While I was looking around, the bar keep saw me, gave me a huge smile and came over. "you new n' town?"he asked in a rough, accented voice, while leaning in front of me putting both of his hands on either side of him, on his side of the bar. "uh..yah, you can tell?" I replied hesitantly turning around to face him _"what if he gets suspicious about how I got here. What if no boats come here? Why am I worrying over this?"_ I worried in my head as he scrutinized me.

he was a big guy around the middle and about 5''7 compared to me at 5"4 he was tall . he had a small brown goatee on his chin which didn't quite suit his features or round face. "Pirate?" he asked suspiciously. "...I'm sorry, what?"i asked. _"Did I hear him wrong? I thought he said pirate."_I thought looking at him strangely. He slowly straitened his back, making himself seem more intimidating as he buffed up his chest and folded his arms across it.

"You a Pirate?" he asked again in a much clearer voice. _"okay, dispite his goofy look, I'm intimidated." _I thought while trying to figure out if he was messing with me(i have always been pretty gullible). Deciding to take him seriously, as a joke of course, I said in my usual calm tone "No, should I be a pirate?".

At that moment suddenly the bar got a little louder and I noticed for the first time that everyone had stopped what they were doing to stare at me and hear my answer... why did they take their joke this far?

"sorry about that, SHAHAHaHahaha and being a pirate's all good fun we don't judge here!" he said in a loud voice with a laugh placing both of his hands back on the bar in their original position. _"does he really think pirates still exist or something?" _was my thought as I asked him my next question"If your okay with people being pirates what was with all the scaring tactics back there?" I asked in an exasperated tone.

"OH, the scaring tactics, SHAHAHaHahaha, this town is fine with pirates as long as they don't hurt or kill anyone. It does gets annoying when they damage things, but what can you do, they're free!" he said with a loud laugh that shook the place "if you were a pirate, the scare would just tell you not to mess around with anyone and to keep the peace. it's just our way of showing the pirates that we're tough and not to mess with us".

Okay...so he believes that it is normal to meet pirates, at bars in the middle of small towns(i would say the middle of nowhere, but for all i know its in the middle of anywhere. I at least want to know its name)."you're a funny kid, SHahaha, what's your name?" he bellowed out, still laughing at my reaction which he had found funny for some reason.

"my name's Rei. you?" I answered him, still a little pissed off that I had been fooled by him(Rei:5 World:3,947,856,986 I'm gullible, okay!). "The name's Tom, I'm the owner of this bar, nice to meet you Rei." he answered back with a smile. "you got a place to stay for the night? There isn't any Inn, as the town is so small, and since your new here I assume you got here by boat." he asked suddenly

_"shit"_was my first thought as I replied "uh, no I don't have a place to stay, I don't even know what this town is called, thanks for telling me about the inn situation though,. I have a feeling that if you had not told me now I would be out there till dawn trying to find one(_"what kind of town doesn't have an Inn? well if there is no Inn that explains why there wouldn't be a tourist shop"_i thought).

On that note do you know of a place I can stay while I get my things in order?" I replied trying to distract him from my boat situation, and taking the chance to gain some information. " huh? You don't have a place to stay? Well that's unlucky, you can stay up in the attic of the bar, if you want. I never use it and there isn't anything important up there(_"does he think I'm going to rob him or something?"_ I took mild offence while I listened) just a spare mattress and some things.

You can pay me back by helping me out at the bar, or... are you any good at cooking?" he ranted at me. "yah I can cook." I answered him. _"are you any good at cooking? He asks me... I LOVE cooking! Its my favourite hobby! I wanted to become a baker or a cook for the longest time!_"i rambled on in my head as he continued to talk, completely forgetting my relief that he dropped the boat topic. "oh, good. Our current chef took a suprise month vacation and we need someone who can cook by tomorrow as its special night and I just found out how much the replacement sucked...oh yah you said that you didn't know the name of the town?! The town's called Folton village of Tran island, a fall island in the Grandline, welcome!" he bellowed finally answering my question.

_"Folton village? Tran island? Grandline? My lack of geography skills has now come to bite me in the butt!"_i freaked in my head while outwardly, I thanked Tom for his help while I left the bar in search of a library to look up 'Grandline' the word that seemed the most familiar. "well at least i got my top two priorities out of the way...ish( technically i still don't know where i am).


	4. Chapter 3

If I recall the first time I ever heard of the word anime was when I was 13 and trying to find a way to watch avatar the last air bender, as my brothers recommended it. I had found a website that mentioned the word anime in the name of the site. This was not the first anime I had ever watched, I had found out later on, as I dug deeper into the anime fandom. It turns out that I had practically grown up on anime, through my father bringing home Hayao Miyazaki movies in English dub.

My brothers also, as it turns out loved anime, I even remember that when I was younger (when I badgered them the most to play with/let me hang out with them) they would always pause the screen and I would only see subtitles on the bottom of their screen. As I got older I found out that they paused the screen because my mom didn't want me and my sister to watch dragon ball z at that age. Anime has always been a part of my life, (as well as fantasy) wither I knew it or not.

Manga came later at 14 or so. I had made a friend, who also loved anime(complete coincidence) and she told me that there was a_ book _form of almost all of my favourite animes and some that even weren't animes. That got me really excited and it just sucked me deeper into the otaku realm.

Fan-fiction is something entirely different. _I _found it, on my own. This was a fandom entirely new to me at the time. I loved it. Being in a world that continued the story, put you into the story,_ changed_ the story even. As much as I loved the original of something, with the original you only get one option of the story(an option I loved or I wouldn't be reading fan-fiction on it) with fan-fiction you could get everything else.

My favourite fan-fiction would probably have to be self-inserts. You could relate to them better then any other original character(in the original story or not) because she experienced our world, she experienced _my _world, and I could put myself in her place. The only type of character(OC/SI) that I hated were Mary sues/Gary stues , I felt no connection with them at all and they just seemed too fake, to like.

With that information you know my position I'm a girl that has fallen into a world she loves, yet not one she would ever wish to _be in(_for the sake of safety). I know my position here, mostly because of my excessive fan-fiction(self-insert) reading. I know that if I blurt out random knowledge about the future to some random person, that in the face of it they will brush me off, but afterwards, oh, afterwards that's when the trouble will start.

The one I blurted the future(or secret past) to will see me as an asset at first, and I will have to give a random or unbelievable explanation to how I came to know that information(i.e. "i know so much about you because...I can see the future!") or I could tell them the truth about where I come from which they most likely won't believe(those types of stories are always too faked to be belived so i won't take the chance of telling anyone that.). Either way they won't believe me or they will trust in me until I start making up things because I run out of information(i might have screwed up the plot enough by this point that every thing changes).

If they are really smart they will be suspicious and try to get the 'truth' out of me until I say something stupid to ease their suspicions by proving them right("i can't take it anymore! Okay, I was part of the organization that blew up the factory, and that's how I knew their plan! You happy now?!") and following that I will get killed, or even following me running out of information I could get myself killed!

The only other possible solution that I can think of is not giving anything away. And to forget as much as possible about the anime, as I don't want to get involved and remembering what happens will affect my decisions if it ever comes to that. I should also forget as many characters as possible so I don't react if I ever meet them or hear their i can't forget the main character( fiscally impossible as I love the anime too much for my memory to forget something that often thought of).

Now, right now, I have a feeling that you might be thinking on how dumb I am being and how forgetting details is the opposite of what is helpful for you right now, and you are right. I however have a really bad habit of over thinking things and this is what I thought at first and how I continued to think for quite some time.

* * *

As I looked at the map in the library(it was authentic I checked with the librarian, who seemed like too serious of a person to lie about books) I slowly started to realize where I was, and the seriousness of the situation. At first I thought that the Grandline was a name of a place somewhere in Africa or Russia that was talked about (but not that often because I couldn't place where it was exactly)but that I never bothered to look up. One of the many places that I never bothered to look up(have I mentioned that I sucked at geography? I'm even worse with street names, I get around only through the amazing ability of distinguishing landmarks.),oh how wrong I was.

It turns out that the Grandline was familiar, because I had heard about it from the anime, one piece.

Now I love the anime and manga of one piece, I'm usually up to date with it and everything. This rises the question of why I didn't immediately think of one piece when I heard the name Grandline. The answer to this question is very simple. I thought I was on earth so by means of deduction I could not be anywhere else but earth.

Only after seeing a map that looked exactly like the map of the one piece world, did I actually find out that there was a possibility that I wasn't on earth. You should also remember that I have a very serious problem with being too gullible, which in turn makes me cautious. This cautiousness simply never kicks in at the right moments...sigh.

* * *

When I realized that I was in the world of one piece, I freaked out. I slowly stepped away from the map and started to pace up and down the isles of books, around all the shelves, walking laps around the library, really slowly.

Now when I panic alone I get this feeling that my head is pounding, my body is trying to condense itself and ends up shaking, and I need to leave, run, go somewhere. Weirdly enough when I'm with other scared people I calm down to the point were I tell them that everything is for the best and all will turn out well in a breezy voice of calmness. But I'm all alone. I can't even talk to anyone. I might never see anyone from home again.

"No that's not going to happen." I whispered, still pacing "No, that can't happen, I have to find a way home." suddenly I stopped coming to a halt by the science fiction section.

"I may not be able to go home right away, but I'm gonna look for a way home even if I have to join a pirate ship to search this world for a way home. I hope it never comes to that, not all pirates are like Luffy's crew. Most are like Kidds if this anime is based off real pirates." I decided as I walked back to the geography section to put the maps away.

"I can't let anyone know where I come from. I can't let anyone find me interesting. As they might obstruct me from my goal. To find a way home, and nothing is going to stop me. As I don't know the means of transportation I used to get here, I need to gather information. This library should be useful. " I said, with a nod, beginning a quiet rant to myself.

"This world is a very violent place as well, I will need a means of defense, the only thing I can think of that could help me is to train myself in the art of sneaking around. I know I will never get to be strong enough to beat the people who might want to hurt me,( not to mention that I'm a weakling) so hiding it is.

I can start now I guess, I'm in the quietest place on earth(well, new earth. one piece earth? Whatever, your earth now, so deal with it.), the library" I ranted to myself, under my breath (library people I'm whispering for a reason) _"if I can hear myself breath than I will have failed __my mission of __sneaking around!" _I thought with determination. Quickly I held my breath only taking the tiniest of breaths as I walked around the library with the mission impossible theme in my head.

Then, out of the blue "bah...haaaaaaaa" I gasped as I sucked in as much air as possible to fill my lungs. _"AIR!, this is impossible, I need air. There has too be a better way to do this!" _I thought as I failed miserably at being quiet("shhhhhhhh" the strict looking librarian shushed me as I gasped for breath, I didn't notice her at all however because I was trying to breath).

The best way that I have found, for me, to get information(yes, you guessed it) was to find a book on it in a library, lucky for me I just so happened to be in one, looking at maps. I went down the isles in the library and I looked up a book on escape artists, and the art of the ninja(they probably know how to be quiet), "I hope this is useful" I whispered as I went up to the librarian to check the books out.

"_Right now I should focus on my survival and __on__ what I know. although I need to get home, I don't know __if__ there is such a thing as a book called 'what to do if your stranded in another dimension!'. So escape artists it is"_i thought as the librarian looked at my two books.

"Are you staying here long? You need to bring these back before you leave the island, okay." she said as she scrutinized me("_she seems like the type of girl that would lose books"_ the librarian thought as she looked at this newcomer _"she better return them!")_ "Actually I'm thinking of staying here for a month or so. I love books so I'm probably gonna be a regular customer!" I told her with a smile as she stated to check out my books (that dude tom at the bar said a month right?) "What's your name? I'm Rei.".

The librarian _finally_ smiled " My name is Fumiko. You love books do you?" she said while checking out the last book "as you'll be in the library a lot, I won't worry about the books being thrown around. Take good care of them." she said, seeming to have warmed up to me

"You asked me about the accuracy of the maps awhile ago. Did you want to check one out as well? You can't take any maps out of the library, but I can photocopy one for you. It will only cost 6 beri" she offered me kindly. _"I only have 2 bucks in my wallet and I can't even do a currency exchange because America doesn't exist here! __Shit I __totally__ forgot about my money situation, how am I gonna eat!__"_ I thought in a panic "um, no that's okay, maybe later." I said.

"oh , okay well, see you next time. Here are your books, have a nice time learning how... to be an escape artist." she said while reading the cover of the last book she just cheeked out. "thanks!" I relied, taking my books and heading out the door. _"i need money" _I thought as I walked down the street heading back to the bar.

* * *

When I arrived back at the bar, I took the time to really look at the place. The bar was not as small as I thought it was the first time I came in. there were 1,2,...6 tables in the bar with some chairs around each one.  
On the left of the entrance was an area that was 3 steps higher than the rest of the bar with a railing surrounding it. That area had two pool tables with lamps directly above them and a cabinet that held the balls for pool and stands in the far corners of the room holding the pool the right side of the room there was a small cabinet holding a dusty record player and on a lower shelf, had two stacks of records both about a foot tall. Across from the record shelf was a dart board with three darts on the listing towards the edge of the board.

"_i could totally hit the center, I've always been good at darts." _I thought as I walked to the bar standing across from the door way. It had five stools two of them occupied unlike the previously almost empty bar I had walked into earlier in the day. It had gotten dark with all the time I had spent in the library and I noticed that it had gotten a bit more crowded than last time.

There were more people drinking at the previously empty tables and there were even a couple people playing the games in the bar, no one was touching the record player though and Tom was nowhere in site. "hey, Rei!" a shout came from the behind the bar. Tom had been ducking down bellow the bar, to grab a spare bottle opener giving it to the guy in front of him with a bottle of beer. "hey, Tom..." I said trying to be polite as that was how I was raised, to be polite to strangers.

"Shahaha, no need to be so tense. By the way, I need to test out your cooking skills to see if your any better than that replacement." he chuckled in a way that would be a full out laugh for a normal person. "okay. who's gonna be trying out the food I make?" I asked him, the surprise test not even making me blink _"who wouldn't test out a new chef before they hire them? I could be as bad as the replacement I'm replacing for all he knows."_ I thought as he showed me to the kitchen.

He lead me to stand before a pretty, petite, woman in her mid thirties with short blond hair reaching her chin. she had a soft kind face with a no nonsense air about her, like she had children and she knew how to get them to clean their rooms.

"let me introduce you to Shelly, she's my wife. She helped the chef clean up and sometimes even waitresses for me if there are too many people. She is gonna be your Guinea pig for tonight. Good luck! I'll let her explain the rest." he said, and then left the room going back to work.

"sigh, what we really need is a person who can make full meals on their own, the way chef would. We don't really get a lot of people ordering meals here as its a bar, but its the only place that will serve food and beer so we get a lot of pirates here and the occasional villager. You will have to learn quickly how to move around the kitchen as fast and gracefully as you can, but that's not a priority right now what we really need is someone who can cook food as i can't cook a thing." she informed me in a soft calm voice.

"Our usual menu that you probably noticed above Tom's head when you came in is just sandwiches, chili, rice, you know the usual stuff, you would have to bake pie or cake as well, the type doesn't matter." she told me as I payed complete attention to her.

This would be my first job in a kitchen in all of my years. _"wait, how did I not realize I was in the one piece world earlier!? The beri sign was above __tom's__ head the entire time I was in the bar!"_ I thought but then quickly realized_"the beri sign looks __too__ much like the dollar sign, for me to have payed that much attention to it."_

"for your test I want you to simply cook all the meals on the menu as quick as you can. as there isn't a lot of items on the menu to cook, it shouldn't take that long. as long as the food is edible and your quick enough you'll pass, and maybe you could even get a perminent job once the chef comes back and tests you. if you stay that long that is. Good luck and I hope you pass, as we don't have anyone else to turn to." she told me, she then proceeded to show me around the kitchen.

* * *

I sat up on the bed in the attic as I took out my backpack. The only items I had from my world lay in this bag...actually they are the only items I have in general, so I hope its enough. I had passed the cooking test if you hadn't realized by now. I managed to make everything quickly enough the chef kept all his recipes in a little box by the spices, i just have to follow them to a T. after i passed the cooking part Tom tested me to see if i could handle working late, by making me help waitress the rest of the night.

it was now 12:00 PM and Tom said I could have regular hours. I would start at ten in the morning and end at eight at night when the occupants of the bar stopped wanting food and just wanted liquor.

In return for working 10 hours instead of simply helping him out, like the original plan, he said he would pay me(_"__yay, I get money!"_) as well as give me a room in the attic, but he wouldn't give me free food.

The attic was actually a room on top of the bar that looked like it was a bachelor pad. I think Tom must have lived here before he had a family. It had a bathroom with running water through a door across the entrance, a bed placed against the only wall with a window, between the bathroom and entrance, with a small nightstand holding a small lamp and an alarm clock.

An old dusty battered up mini fridge that looked like it could be in working order(just needed to be plugged in) had its its back against the bathroom wall, there was also a desk with a folding chair in the corner of the room on the side of the bed that didn't have a nightstand. Tom said that there was a washing machine in the basement and if I wanted to use it I had to wash the towels in the bar and the kitchen and dry them on the wire hanging in the back of the bar.

All in all it was the luckiest thing that had ever happened to me in my whole life. A job and shelter had just fallen into my lap with almost no effort on my part, this is the most unrealistic thing that could ever happen to me. Maybe this is my proof that I really am in an anime.

"Oh My Gosh!...I'm in an anime!" I shouted out to the other side of the room, my words echoing around the empty building that had just closed shop. "I'm in an anime..." I stated once more the shock and realization not really clicking in. I... I don't think it will ever click in. "I'm in an anime..." I whispered in the quietest voice I had. "I'm never going to go home... I don't even know how I got here! What am I even doing! What do I need a job for I need to get home not make a life for myself!" I said my voice shaking at the end of my sentence. My eyes watered as I took a long shuddering breath.

"I need to calm down... survive. That is my goal. survive and make it home." I wiped the tears I hadn't noticed had fallen during my break down. My fear had gotten the better of me I hadn't had a break down like that in a long time.

Looking back at my backpack I slowly started to take things out while I took long quivering gasps of air, letting out a hiccup or two. I had four books that were mine, two of which were not very useful in this situation.

My math textbook holding the endless amounts of homework that I needed to do (my teacher is really a slave driver).The first three volumes (all in one book) of Naruto, one of my favorite mangas.I smiled as I took that one out "this will cheer me up when I get the time to read it."i also had a beat up, paperback Pride and Prejudice with side notes and connotations (which are really helpful every time i read it) that i was taking home after i had lent it to a friend. The fourth book I had was the book I was reading on the bus, the one I couldn't understand anymore.

I had some little things as well like a key chain that had a broken compass, a mini magnifying glass, a mini light, a thumb sized mirror, a thermometer and a whistle all in one, I think the light on it was broken too actually. My house keys with a disk on key (USB) on the same chain. It only had some episodes of Doctor Who, Supernatural, and 219 chapters of Skip Beat on it which won't be useful as i don't have a computer here.

I had my wallet with 2 dollars in it as I had mentioned before. My phone that wasn't going to be useful anytime soon. My I pod that was out of battery and my almost broken head phones. A half empty water bottle. An umbrella that had seen better days. My school supplies, like my pencils and highlighters the occasional pen etc. I just had what I bring to school every day as I was coming home from a normal day of school.

I stared at the last book i had taken out. the one that should have all the answers. It was the only clue as to how I got here, as it magically could change the language it was written in, it could possibly have the power to bring me here.

I unlocked the book with the key already in it's lock, i had forgotten to take it out again, and flipped it open to the first page. It was the same as when I had opened it at the beach, scribbles. _"They sorta_ _looked like letters though."_I thought as I tried to read it as if it was English.

"Wait this is English!... No..it's not." I said still reading it_ "I can understand it though. It's some kind of spell book."_i thought "This is nuts!" I said in shock. The book was in another language but I could understand it. It was just like reading a book that had such horrible spelling that no one would ever be able to read it.

You had to look at each letter or group of letters separately and read it or else it made no sense, this was second nature to me as my spelling has always sucked so it took less time to read than any other person trying to read it. That is what it felt like anyway, I could still tell that I was not looking at the English alphabet. After ten minutes of browsing through through the book I suddenly started to feel tired and had to put it away. "I'm gonna have to try some of those spells out though, some of them look really useful for defence" I whispered as I drifted of to sleep. "I wonder if I can even do them...zzz"


	5. Chapter 4

I woke up to the sound of rain pelting my window and wind blowing against the trees. I had had a drowsy sort of sleep that didn't really give me much energy. I must have stayed up late last night.

I cracked open my eyes and looked at the desk by the side of my bed. I didn't have a desk next to my bed. _'Did someone move my desk?' _I thought still half asleep. _'Am I at someone else's house?' _my mind was clearing slowly. I lifted my hand to my face to wipe the crust from my eyes.

At this time of day I am usually surrounded by sleeping cats, three of them to be precise, the fourth one likes to sleep with my mom. And the rest sleep with me. I always feel really gleeful when I think that I am the one out of the three people in the house they like to cuddle with. So I usually notice their absence.

Still not quite awake enough to lift even my head up off the bed I just roll over onto my other side to see if I can sleep in some more, it is the weekend after all. Opening my eyes a crack I notice the bandstand with its little lamp and alarm clock. It was 8:00 AM. "m'is t' 'rly t' be up 'n a 'ekend" I mumbled barely opening my mouth speaking in between the parts stuck together in their normal pasty manner.

_'I don't have an alarm clock. I use my phone, and when did I get a nightstand?' _I thought as my head slowly cleared up its morning fog. I opened my eyes fully and turned to lie on my back. I stared up at the ceiling for a moment then sat up.

I was in a strange little room, which had a small amount of furniture. A folding chair, desk, mini fridge, etc. and as I stared at the room I realized where I was. I didn't break down like I had last night, not because I wasn't scared anymore, just because I held it in. _'most of it anyway'_ I thought as I entered the bathroom and looked at my already drying tears in the small medicine cabinet's mirror above the sink.

I hadn't realized this before but I didn't have a spare change of clothing. I had even slept in my clothes last night, unintentionally. Maybe I could ask Shelly for a spare change just for a day until I buy some. Well for now I will just have to wear my one set, again.

I looked into the shower in the corner of the bathroom, it wasn't really all that clean. Actually the whole room was a bit of a mess. Not the type of mess from little kids, the type of mess from lack of use and attention. Which meant dust and mold were going to be my two best friends for until I managed to get cleaning supplies.

I sprayed water onto the floor of the shower and looked for a sponge or some soap. There was no sponge and the only soap was the spare bar of soap, Tom had let me swipe from the bathroom downstairs. I took the soap and rubbed it with some water in my hands over the shower floor until the suds filled my hands and dripped to the dirt on the shower floor. Not having a sponge I made do with my hands and the removable spray nozzle of the shower.

The shower was finally as clean as it was going to get without a sponge or bleach, so I turned around and looked in the cabinet across from the toilet. Opening the doors I peered inside expecting to find an old towel of some sort. What I found instead was an old dead spider.

I ended up not having a shower because of my lack of towel or change of clothing. Yes, I had spent a whole half hour of my morning, cleaning a shower, in order to not use it. I stayed in my clothing that should stay clean for at least another day, as I don't sweat that much and they didn't smell yet.

* * *

I walked to Shelly and Tom's place before 9:00, they had given me directions beforehand in case I had any trouble. (I ended up finding an old, worn out umbrella in the unplugged mini fridge.) I wasn't sure what to expect. Did they have young children? were they late to wake up? Would I be bothering them by coming? I didn't know, but when I rung the door bell, I waited only a minute before Shelly asked "who is it" in a voice muffled by the door.

"It's me, Rei…um you told me to come if I had any problems...and...Uh" I stumbled over my words, somewhat distracted as I mulled over how I was going to ask her for clothing to borrow until my first paycheck.

Shelly opened the door, and told me to come in and get out of the rain. I shook off my umbrella outside on their porch closing it as i went inside. I left my shoes at the entrance, as that is the tradition here, and walked into her home. Her home was styled in the traditional Japanese way, with the exception of tables and chairs. The doors in her house were not all sliding and rice paper, but that was obvious as the front door was of the normal western style.

She kept a clean home, with the occasional item out of place. It was nice, but I also felt the atmosphere was too strict. Which may have been attributed to my parents cluttered apartment, my home.

I left thoughts of home behind me as I heard her ask me what I needed help with, in a kind voice. Thinking quickly I made up my story. "Um… I was sort of… shipwrecked on this island…so…" I trailed off, not wanting to add any more details so I could stick with this one lie.

Shelly gasped and her face filled with pity. "Oh no, you poor dear! Why didn't you mention this sooner!" she exclaimed with worry. "Dear!" she called out to her husband, who was just now coming from what looked like the bathroom "Rei was shipwrecked here! We have to help her! Do you have any clothes with you? What about the people with you? Are they okay?" she rambled on turning towards me with questions I didn't know how to answer.

'_Other people?! What do I say?' _I thought as I prepared myself to lie again. "I was on a small dingy by myself …" I said quietly. "Well, no wonder you were shipwrecked! This is the Grandline, Rei you have to have a crew out here with a navigator, or you will be in trouble! You're lucky you got to an island!" she exclaimed.

"I have been hearing rumors of some new shipwreck coming into the shore." Tom chipped in. '_well that's a lucky break. I've been getting a lot of those lately.' _I thought as Tom and Shelly continued their discussion of shipwrecks and my 'poor' self in front of me.

* * *

When they finally ended their discussion, I heard the rain stop as well. Shelly took me into a room that was in no way the master bedroom as it was quite small. She looked through the closet in there for a moment bringing out a brown paper bag with clothes in it.

"I have a lot of my son's clothing that he outgrew, I never threw them out as I was planning on giving them to the next family that needed it in town. Most of them won't really need it or want it however as the kids have their own taste." She slowly brought out clothes that were for a teenage boy, they would however fit me fine and I couldn't be picky right about now.

I had thought of just asking them to pay me in advance, so I could buy clothes. The clothing I could have bought would have been for girls, as well as in my style, but beggars can't be choosers. Some of the clothes were even a bit cool looking, like that one collared jacket with pockets, and there were quite a lot of T shirts too.

I thanked her profusely and then she even asked me if I needed toiletries which in the heat of the moment I had forgotten about. She took out the spare toothbrush from their medicine cabinet, and then gave me a little money to buy the rest.

* * *

I can't tell you nor could I express to her fully how grateful I was to the both of them. They had just handed to me everything I could need. Through all of this I never once forgot that I had lied to them about my origins.

Heading out of their house, so as to buy what I needed in time to get washed up and go to work, I walked down the wet street towards the shopping area I had first passed by when entering the village of Folton.

I bought the necessities and some food with the leftover money. There was quite a lot more money left than I had expected. I ended up having 10 beri left over which I folded and scrunched into my back jean pocket ('_I should remember my backpack, or at least my wallet next time.'_)

* * *

My day from then on went quite well. I finally took my shower. I got dressed in Shelly's son's old clothes which when I had time to sort through, I found that the shirts actually small enough to fit me pretty well, with the occasional very baggy t shirt. The pants and shorts however would need a belt…a strong one. For now I wore my jeans.

I had gotten undergarments with my toiletries if you were really curious.

I didn't get a lot of orders for food, as Tom and Shelly mentioned before. It was a really quiet job. They let me have an hour break at 4:00 when the last of the late lunch, eaters finished. The break however, was uneventful I just hung out in the kitchen like I would when there was no one ordering food. I got out of work at eight, as arranged.

I went upstairs, entered my room and flopped onto the bed.

My luck I have noticed had changed. I got a job handed to me easily. Clothes as well. Money. Shelter. It was like, the world was feeling guilty for trapping me in a land of unknowns (I may have known the anime, but I was not used to its world.)

I turned my head my eyes landing on the floor, to the pile of pens and books I had kicked off my bed in my sleep. My eyes traveled to the magic book on the bottom of the pile. The spell book was open, faced down, its pages bending. I rolled over so I could slide off the bed sinking my knees to the floor, I was too lazy to walk and bend down. I picked up the book and crossed my legs on the floor.

I opened it up and started to read. It had fallen onto a spell about wood, was what I had learned after my struggle to understand the scribbles. The words got clearer and more recognizable the more I read. Finishing up the page I looked up from the book and thought about what I had just read.

It was a sort of theory and process of the spell, not the incantation that I had expected to read. Feeling adventurous I tried out the spell on the wooden floor.

The spell book had called it 'wood shape'. I concentrated on its process which mostly consisted of controlling your will and the 'will of the wood' which I assumed would show its face sooner or later, if the spell book was legit.

I did end up encountering the 'will of the wood' which was so surprising that I ended up forgetting about the spell and messing it up, causing a backlash. The backlash wasn't exactly physical, probably because I just felt the wood's will say 'hi' and then freaked, it was mental. I got a head ache that lasted about ten minutes.

When the head ache left I got my courage up again and tried the spell once more. When encountering the wood's will this time I was a bit more prepared, but the spell book didn't really give that much direction. So I improvised.

_'Um, could you let me control you for a bit?'_

yah… I asked it.

My improvisation worked surprisingly, the wood even told me a better way to ask. In order to perform the spell, or any spell that needed nature's cooperation, you only needed to be honest and show the nature your will. You just needed to make contact and focus.

No the wood didn't talk.

The wood simply put an impression on my mind, in a way giving to me the 'idea' of how to do it. And that is how I did it from that moment on.

I impressed my will onto the will of the wood, planning to make a staff of wood around my height and an inch in diameter thick. I managed to get it to come up to my ankles before an intense migraine hit me, but I didn't need much concentration any more as the wood and I both knew what I wanted and it continued to grow, but so did my pain. The staff got half way up my thigh before I passed out.

* * *

I woke up and checked my alarm clock. It was midnight and raining again. Looking around I saw my creation. A three and a half foot tall pole. I was amazed, and addicted. Magic.

All I need to do is build up my tolerance.

But I have MAGIC.

I didn't even think about how I came by it or what it meant by me having it. All I thought about was that my dreams from childhood had come true.


	6. Chapter 5

After my new discovery of magic had sunk in, I started to practice it, everyday during my spare time when I wasn't at the library, and breaks during work. I would go back to the beach and read a passage in the book. Every page had one or two spells, and every day I would read a different one.

The spells themselves were fairly easy to do but they only had small results. I would just use the force like when I was little. I would put my hand out and will it to happen, only this time I could feel something. I could feel a presence just outside me, which was nature.

Most of the spells ended up a like the first, if I continued past my limit I would pass out, but I found that if I stopped right at my limit and tried a different spell the previous spell's limit had no effect on me. Each spell also had different limitations, as not all of them were for changing or creating in nature. An example of this would be my encounter with the compass spell.

The compass spell was a way to 'ask' nature which direction north was, which would be an invaluable talent in the Grandline as only the south birds of Jaya and their relations (north, east and west birds) could do that.

In order to do the spell one had to meld their 'will' with nature and then the knowledge would come naturally after that. Let me tell you one thing though, the book is BS.

Meld my intent with nature? How do you do that? I was just using the force…

In this case my limitation was lack of information/teacher. I ended up meditating, which did help me, as I found out later, it brought me closer to the presence outside me, but I ended up falling asleep (passing out). After discovering how it helped though I made sure to do it more often.

I still don't know how to do the compass spell.

The spells I did feel confident in, at least in knowing what the process was, consisted of the wood shape spell, a create water spell, a spark spell, and a read magic spell. The last one was on the first page… it was sort of useless as I could read magic already but I suppose it counts, since it was in the book.

I hadn't gotten any farther in the wood shape spell, except when I took that one wood's advice, which helped me with all the other spells. All I needed was to make contact and focus, the magic would do the rest. On my second attempt at the spell I had gotten the same length of three and a half feet without passing out.

The create water spell was a spell that needed a hole in the ground to work. The book said to dig a hole so I spent the morning digging the biggest hole I could, a foot deep. To my surprise, unlike the last spell I had done the water filled the hole completely without me getting as much as a throb in my head. So far this was my favorite spell, as it was the easiest if you didn't count the digging.

The spark spell took a little more focus and quite a few more days to learn than the other two. This wasn't for any other reason than because I just couldn't figure out when to spike my will at just the right time to create a spark, while snapping my fingers. It didn't create fire though…just a spark.

* * *

Getting into the routine of cooking and waitressing, for most of the day and practicing old spells and learning new ones during breaks, not to mention going to the library every week and practicing sneaking around (with the guidance of books), distracted me from my home sickness. So when a month of this passed and my payday arrived, my mood turned melancholy.

Beri, as I had learned early on were not equal to the dollar. They were equal to the penny. I had four beri left over from what Shelly had given me as I used six of the ten left over to buy a copy of the map in the library. This caused me to be very grateful to my 'paycheck' (it was cash) as it meant I could buy real food and stop having to eat the leftovers that no one wanted at the Bar (food was not included in our deal of room and job, if you recall.), but it didn't lessen the realization that I had not been home for a month.

My pay check wasn't the only event that happened at the end of the month though. Ranu, their original chef came back from his vacation.

Ranu, was a big guy like Tom, but he had a real beard that just covered his chin, and a fat face. He had an angry look to him, which made sense I suppose when I found out that he used to be a pirate.

He said he never got a bounty as he wasn't part of a famous crew or anything, and he was just their chef. I had a strong feeling that he knew how to fight though, as he couldn't be that big for nothing.

Ranu coming back didn't turn my luck in the slightest. I just became the dishwasher, as there wasn't a real need for two chefs. Ranu and I, never really hit it off until I told him I liked his recipes, which started the conversation of my own cooking 'skills'.

When he learned that I wanted to be a chef, he got really excited, and in a way I suppose, that was the start of my unofficial apprenticeship.

He started teaching me how to properly cook in a kitchen, how a chef did it. Then he would give me tasks and challenges, to help me speed myself up. I learnt how to really multitask in a kitchen, and all sorts of secret techniques (like when exactly to add the salt) and ingredients, that I never even heard of in my world, to make the food taste great.

* * *

I started to enjoy myself, between Ranu's teachings and my slow progress in magic and learning how 'not to be noticed', I felt like nothing could go wrong. I went to bed every night so exhausted since then that I didn't even notice my old backpack slowly collecting dust in the corner of the room.

It was maybe two or three weeks after I started learning how to cook from Ranu, that I had my first encounter with real pirates (Ranu didn't count as he was retired). I never had one before on account of me always being in the back doing challenges, and on the account of Tom who usually gave them the 'don't mess' treatment. It wasn't a mind blowing encounter and I don't think they even noticed me.

I was waitressing, like I had done occasionally during the first month, because Shelly had fallen ill and Tom needed the help. I was wiping down the table a few locals had used when they came in. As I said before it wasn't mind blowing, just an encounter, they came in looking all scary with their guns and swords and sat down at one of the tables by the back wall, the table farthest from the bar. They ordered drinks and meat, yelling it from across the room at Tom instead of me.

Tom gave them a look that said 'don't cause trouble' and they noticed it, which caused one to yell that 'they were just gonna have fun'. This in turn made someone, who looked the most like their leader, to smack him on the back of the head, making the rest of them laugh.

They looked like a jolly bunch, but they still scared me, their looks being that of killers.

The pirates gave me my wakeup call. I remembered that I didn't come here to have fun, nor by choice either. I had to find a way home, and I don't think that the way home is on this island. I had searched the whole tiny island and all the travel/dimension theory books in the library on my first month here, and I came up with nothing.

There was no spell that even mentioned travel in the spell book either.

I needed to search the whole one piece world for a way home, and that meant that I needed to survive it. With my resolve as strong as ever, I got up early the next day and went Ranu the only pirate (ex-pirate) I knew. I needed to ask him if he could teach me how to fight, no not fight, but to defend myself.

Ranu, although not sure why I wanted to, was very compliant, and at first tried to teach me how to get away, but I had already mastered that. I had been sneaking around the kitchen and bar, even around the village sometimes, to test what I had practiced from the books in the library. The tips they had given me were quite helpful, and over the last three months I had made it a habit of mine to try walking without making a sound from my breathing and feet (I didn't always succeed though). This habit helped me get better at it but it sometimes messed me up when I needed to concentrate and my focus was divided.

Ranu, after seeing that I was proficient enough at not getting noticed then tried to teach me hand to hand combat…it didn't work out.

I was a weakling…in all aspects of the word.

Weak.

After that failure we tried something different the next day. Weapons. He had a gun and sword from the 'old days'. But I sucked at those too.

Nothing we did worked until I brought the wooden pole I had been working on the day after that. I eventually managed to make one twice as thick and just my height, without passing out. I didn't make one in front of him though, I just made a warped one the night before and said I found a branch. I had always liked staffs so I wanted to learn how to make my new skill of making them useful. The fact that I have the potential to be proficient in using it, according to Ranu, made me really happy.

* * *

On went my days. They could be stressful, boring, or even fun at times, but on they went.

My Birthday passed. I had a quiet one to myself, and it was more of a self-pity party than anything. I made myself a cupcake in the kitchen downstairs, and bought a candle in the market. That night I blew it out, with a lonely "Happy Birthday, Rei."

My Brother's Birthday passed in a similar way, as did the one for my parents and other brother and sister.

My life here had become normal…and only reading the books of my world remind me of that.

* * *

The first year of my life here had passed, and I only had some new skills to show for it. It is surprising what one can do with a fear of death and a will to return home. Having a teacher in Ranu helped a lot as well.

My magic skills had improved. My limit in each spell I learnt came slower and let me do more, the more I meditated. I even learnt how to be more proficient in some new spells, to add to my original four.

I learnt the purifying spell (it only worked on food and drink, I tried using it on a person once but it was ineffective), The Long strider spell which let me walk and run at a _much_ greater speed ((I crashed into a tree with that one by accident.) With this spell I was only proficient in the length of time and the speed, I could use it in, though my control was terrible.), the charm animals spell (the first time I tried it out was when I attempted to make a beetle fly to me and I passed out twice before I realized that it only worked on _animals_ and that there was a specific spell for insects.), and Bull's strength.

I was still trying to learn the compass spell by the way.

My 'ninja' skills have improved to such an extent that my breath and footsteps are quiet by second nature. I even sometimes startle Fumiko at the library.

My skills with a staff have gotten better as well, according to Ranu anyway. My legs and arms have gotten much stronger since the first month of learning, but I still couldn't budge Ranu when I tried to move him with my staff. The best move I had learned with it was how to hit someone on the head with it, which always worked, if I could manage to get into the right place to do it without being attacked in the mean time.

* * *

The spell similar to long strider, in the way that it affected the body, called Bull's strength, earned a full two months of my attention. I wanted to learn it at first in order to use it with my staff, as it would help me greatly, but my concentration split and faltered when fighting both with the staff and the magic, against Ranu. I needed to learn multi tasking, and so my daily discovery of new spells, took a backseat to my attempt at learning how to multitask with magic.

My theory was that if I could do spells during my daily life, I would be able to do the bull spell with minimum concentration and I would be able to just focus on the fight. My most concentration intensive spell was spark, so I used that.

I read a book, my most concentration zapping activity (_most_ of the time I lose focus on my surroundings when I read.), while trying to make as many sparks as possible. I would get through the whole sentence, before I lost focus on my spell and got nothing. A full two weeks had passed before I saw any results. I had finally managed to get one spark in the sentence. It fell into the cup, half filled with water that I held it over, and sizzled out.

It was, however, unmistakably, a bright orange spark, filled with life.

After that one success I continued with this exercise for another month and a half, before I had attempted the bull's strength spell while fighting Ranu again. My need for concentration had lessened to such a degree after the last two months that the spell joined my arms immediately and I pushed Ranu to the ground with my staff for the first time. He was of course shocked but left thinking of it as a fluke. I still hadn't told anyone of my new Druid like powers.

I think that, after that I started practicing the forms of the staff fighting style with the Long strider spell. They were repetitive actions that flowed into each other, so all I needed was to focus on the spell and the actions, in order to do them really fast. No control was really necessary at that point.

* * *

Yes… my one year here bore many physical fruits. My goal to find a way home, was however, no more successful than it ever was. I still searched the library everyday no longer needing books in the 'ninja' department (I think I had mastered the skill with their help) my entire focus fell on finding a book with information on how to go back home, I looked through every genre over the course of the year (even the children stories), but I still ended up with nothing.

My plan to travel the Grandline, and even the whole one piece world if I had to, seemed to be the only option with the course of each passing day.


End file.
